World

Germany joins Russia in defending Iran nuclear deal

2018-04-26 09:20:28

BERLIN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The German Foreign Office expressed its support for the existing Iran nuclear agreement on Wednesday despite U.S. President Donald Trump's vocal criticism of the pact.

"The preservation of the nuclear treaty has the highest priority", a spokesperson for the Foreign Office told press in Berlin.

"A new nuclear treaty is not an option on the table", he added, pointing out that the current agreement had been signed by seven states, as well as the European Union (EU) and could not be altered without the agreement of all parties involved.

The German Foreign Office hereby supported the position adopted by Russia in response to U.S. and French proposals to renegotiate the existing deal.

Trump has threatened to withdraw from the agreement by May 12 unless the U.S. Congress and European nations agree to amend it.

The U.S. president has previously described the agreement as the "worst deal ever" but said following a recent meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron that he could be persuaded to remain a party to it if it was altered in substance.

Speaking to press on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the German Foreign Office noted that Berlin shared Washington's concerns with regards to the Iranian ballistic missile programme which is currently not affected by the deal.

Although Germany did not believe that changes to the existing text were feasible, the Foreign Office highlighted that it would help in finding "the right process" to resolve the issue and called for diplomatic discussions with Iran.

In the meanwhile, Teheran has hit back at Trump for failing to grasp the complexity of international relations.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday ruled out any change to the 2015 nuclear deal which ended international disputes over the country's nuclear program.

"We will not add anything to the deal or remove anything from it, even one sentence," said Rouhani.